Ted Whitten

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Edward James 'Ted' Whitten Snr
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Personal information
Birth July 27, 1933(1933-07-27),
Recruited from Braybrook/Collingwood Amateurs
Death August 17, 1995 (aged 62),
Playing career¹
Debut 1951, Footscray (now Western Bulldogs vs. Richmond, at Punt road oval
Team(s) Footscray
  • 321 games, 360 goals
Coaching career¹
Team(s) Footscray
  • 228 games, 91 wins, 137 losses
¹ Statistics to end of 2006 season
Career highlights

Edward James 'Ted' Whitten (July 27, 1933 - August 17, 1995) was an Australian rules football player. Playing 321 VFL games for his beloved Footscray between 1951 and 1970, he became known by the moniker "Mr. Football". In 1996, he was among the first batch of inductees to the Australian Football Hall of Fame, immediately elevated to Legend status, and was selected as Captain of the AFL Team of the Century.

Contents

[edit] Early Days

Whitten grew up in the western suburbs of Braybrook and Footscray in Melbourne. As a youth he played for Braybrook on Saturdays and Collingwood Amateurs on Sundays; he was urged by the Collingwood Amateurs coach, Charlie Utting (a former Collingwood VFL star) to try out for the Collingwood team but was told later to come back in a few years after building up body strength. Within 12 months he was playing for Footscray, the team he had always supported.

[edit] Footscray

Whitten played his very best football as a key position player, either at Centre Half Forward or Centre Half Back. Holmesby and Main describe him as a "prodigious kick, a flawless mark" and as having unequalled "ground and hand skills".[1]

With superb all-round skills, the extraordinary talent of being able to kick equally well with his right and left foot,[2] and perhaps one of the best exponents of the "flick" pass, which was eventually banned, Whitten was one of few football players to have the ability to play any position on the field. He was regarded by his contemporaries in the 1950's and 1960's as the greatest naturally talented player of his era;[3] some bestowed on him the title "Mr. Football".

[edit] Off the Field

As well as being a star player (he appeared for Victoria on 29 occasions), Whitten was a passionate promoter of the game - in particular the State of Origin competition, representing and captaining "The Big V" on many occasions. He was also chairman of selectors for the state team after retiring from playing football. He was a key promotional tool for the series, with its biggest rivalry between Victoria and South Australia, often featured promoting the Victorian team with his saying "Stick it up em". He also once famously said: Years ago you had to crawl over cut glass to get one (i.e. a state guernsey),[4] in an era when there was an ever diminishing esteem in representing one's state, a situation that continues to the present day. He worked as a football commentator on television throughout the 1970s and as a radio commentator in the latter part of his life.

E.J Whitten statue which stands outside of the Whitten Oval
E.J Whitten statue which stands outside of the Whitten Oval

In 1995, Whitten went public with the announcement that he was suffering from prostate cancer. During a State of Origin game only weeks before his death, Whitten, suffering from blindness due to the cancer, was driven around a lap of the MCG, with his son Ted jr. by his side and Mariah Carey's "Hero" playing on the sound system. He received a standing ovation from the crowd, most of whom were too young to have ever seen him play in person, but for those who had had the privilege to see him play, it was a very emotional moment. This event was polled as the most memorable football event by the Melbourne newspaper The Age.[5]

[edit] Death

Whitten lost his battle with cancer in August 1995. Such was his popularity he was given a state funeral, had a bridge named for him (EJ Whitten Bridge on the Western Ring Road) and a statue erected at the Bulldogs former home ground, Whitten (Western) Oval in West Footscray, which was also renamed in his honour.

After his death, Whitten's son, Ted Whitten jnr began the EJ Whitten Legends Game in the memory of his father. The game is a charity match to raise money for prostate cancer research.

[edit] Statistics

v • d • e
1954 Footscray Premiership Players
Captain: Sutton | Box | Bryden | Collins | Donald | Duffy | Edwards | Gallagher | Gilmore | Henderson | Kerr | Martin | McCarthy | Reynolds | Ross | Stevens | Stockman | Whitten | Reserves: Abbey | Nuttall
Coach: Sutton
Preceded by
Harvey Stevens		 Western Bulldogs Best and Fairest winner
1954		 Succeeded by
Peter Box
Preceded by
Don Ross		 Western Bulldogs Best and Fairest winner
1957-1959		 Succeeded by
John Schultz
Preceded by
John Schultz		 Western Bulldogs Best and Fairest winner
1961		 Succeeded by
John Schultz

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Holmesby, R. & Main, J. (2002) The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers, Crown Content, Melbourne.
  2. ^ On one occasion, playing against Richmond at Footscray, in the mid-1960s, he broke out of the ruck, to the left, from a centre bounce, ran two paces to balance himself, and kicked a left-foot torpedo kick for a goal. The ball was returned to the centre, bounced, and Whitten burst out of the pack, to the right, ran three paces and kicked a right-foot torpedo kick for a goal.
  3. ^ Others, such as Ron Barassi, who were not bestowed with Whitten's level of natural talent, were at least his equal in terms of performance, tenacity, courage and aggression -- and, might well have been a first pick in any team before the volatile Whitten -- had to work much harder on the acquisition of their football skills. This may explain why they, who had to learn how to do things, were eventually more successful as coaches than was Whitten, the "natural".
  4. ^ Holmesby, R. & Main, J. (2002) The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers, Crown Content, Melbourne.
  5. ^ The Age: Ten Things About Football You'll Never Forget [1]